Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Work Force, LLC

I can't believe we've already been living in Albuquerque for a year. Where the hell has time gone?! I mean, geeze...I can't believe it's going to be April next week. It seems like everything is flying by. Some people have been hitting me up and wondering how work is going for me since I'm ALWAYS busy now..well..here's story time:

Over the course of a year, I changed jobs two times..one was because the owners wife was a complete terror and my office associate was a manipulative shrew that ran our techs into the ground. I finally hit my limit when the owners wife treated me like not only was I beneath her, but cut me down constantly in front of my colleagues because...well..she's just a bitch & lacks people skills. The shrew had a knack of being two faced, threw people under the bus to make herself appear favorable to our boss & would ultimately LIE to get a head. Very wrong way to try to climb that business ladder. When I first met her & heard some of her bad luck, of course you feel sorry for someone. Now that I've gotten to know her over this length of time, it's just Karma kicking her in the face because it's justified. Oh yeah, she'd keep in touch with me on Facebook acting like she was my friend, but would turn around and talk shit about me to the company we worked for even though I'm no longer relevant there. Why? Who the hell knows... but when she found out I'm working with the company I'm with now, she lost her shit and started a lot of petty, childish drama. You weren't recruited for us for a reason. Sit and think about that for a little bit while you're posting unflattering "selfies" non stop on Facebook. *thumbs up*

Then the other company I joined made me sick to my stomach after a month because they are SO money hungry, treat their customers like shit, and my immediate supervisor was verbally accosting me daily. Sexual harassment would be an excellent way to describe him. The owner is so over the top arrogant that I didn't think people like that actually existed. Rolls into work with a brand new Porsche, brags about his $1,200 alligator driving shoes while he puts on his $1k ostrich leather loafers, brags about going out to dinner with his wife and it cost $500, then turns around and cuts hours for several people throughout the company since they can't afford the payroll. Just...WTF. My favorite (and I'm saying that sarcastically, by the way) ...if a customer is unhappy with a service that was provided, he tells them to "fuck off"...Dude,without your customers, you wouldn't be where you are today! Keep in mind, the equipment we sold cost anywhere from $1k up to $8k, so I think it's fair that a customer is expecting some sort of service warranty if something goofs up, especially a few weeks after they drop that sort of cash! NOPE. Customers are nickle & dimed with ridiculous service fees and then they'll be scheduled to when it's convenient to the company, not their schedule. I was there from July till November..and it was an AGONIZING four months. Everyone there was/is rotten to the core and I wanted nothing more to do with it. Glad to see that in my rear view mirror!

Now to today; I work for an awesome company. I love it because I actually feel like I matter & that I'm an asset. I've been rocking this gig since November and OWN this position. Of all the people who stayed in contact with me from the first job I had when we got here, it was a guy I was basically a secretary for. He and one of the techs from the shop (who now happens to live with us) stayed in contact with me, checked in to see how I was doing and didn't want to lose touch. To me, that was awesome because it showed that he actually gave a rip rather than me just being another person passing through. The tech who lives with us, Kevin, started talking to me about a possible job opportunity that'd allow him to leave the douchey company he was working for at the time to hop over to our buddies business that he was trying to launch. Ya don't say? Hmmm... I started poking around, getting a feel for what they were trying to get going and was offered a chance to jump on board. You're damn right I jumped! I'm considered the office manager, but I do a hell of a lot more than office work. Unlike the first place I worked at, this one allows me to go to job sites to see what the guys are doing, I assist with installs so I actually have an idea of what I'm talking about when explaining things to customers. The other companies would never allow me to do that. When I mentioned having a chance to go in the field here, it wasn't even questioned. I love it! Now I get to meet tenants first hand for some of the property companies we're contracted with, learning loads of information in regards to HVAC, plumbing, installations and anything else you can think of in regards to this line of work. Not only that, but I got to design the company logo, actively worked on advertisements to get more business, set up accounts throughout Albuquerque for supply houses & making awesome professional connections with those shops, overhauled the way billing is done and a slew of other things. Here's some examples of what I've done



 My colleague who brought me on board has taken the time to show me how bids and estimates are done, educates me on some of the massive units we work with (I'm talking like 5 ton split systems) ...all the while, makes it VERY known how much he appreciates not only myself & Kevin, but Eric as well since Eric will help us from time to time with job sites and even hitting the pavement to put up door tags for advertisement. It's REFRESHING to actually hear someone be thankful & acknowledges that people are busting their asses for them. To me, that goes a lot further than anything. 

This company has been rolling for about seven months now, I've been with them for five of it, and it's definitely gaining momentum which is extremely exciting. We've received excellent reviews from various customers, clients who have terminated maintenance contracts they had with other companies to sign with us, obtaining new construction contracts around town in addition to a flurry of other things. LOTS of good stuff coming down the pipeline and I'm SO happy to see things progressing like they have. All the personal sacrifices we've made to get this off the ground is finally paying off. 




Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Last Ditch Trip!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by! Mentally, I'm wanting to just plant my feet in the ground and say "NO! You're not gonna make me move! I belong in Europe!"...alas, the Air Force is a thing you can't really argue with. 
Le sigh. 

With that being said, I'm going on a last ditch trip before we officially move back to the states. I'm going to Scotland, baby! YEAH! 


Actually...I think the landscape is gonna look like this more or less since I'll be going in January: 


Either way, I'm just thrilled to have the chance to even go there! Unfortunately, Eric won't be able to come since he'll be busy with work and doing all the important stuff he's gotta get handled in order for us to move. Being the awesome man he is, he told me go ahead and go since I'll end up kicking myself for passing it up. 

Ya see, an old friend of mine lives over in Montrose, which is about two hours from Edinburgh. He extended the invite for me to come over and visit for a bit because 1). We got lots to catch up on 2). He knows I've been wanting to go to Scotland 3). IT'S SCOTLAND! 


I'm actually rather excited to be in that town because I really...REALLY miss living near the ocean. Plus I can venture around a place I'm not really familiar with aside from checking out the typical tourist places. Of course, I want to check out Edinburgh and all it has to offer, possibly check out Balmoral Castle near Aberdeen..aghhhh..too many choices! Luckily, I'll be there for a week, so hopefully my friend is understanding and I'm gonna be on the move non stop to see all the things :D



Sunday, November 11, 2012

Privatized Blogging

Aye aye aye... 

To avoid the whole "private" thing, I changed my web address earlier this year due to some negative people...and apparently, that didn't work. I've refrained from making my blog private for a long time because I actually enjoy posting my random stories & adventures for people to read, but alas, the time has come. 

When I originally posted about the new link on my Facebook, I asked for people to keep it to themselves since I made a specific group who would be the only ones able to see what I posted...and my request was for them to keep it to themselves. Don't share it with people that they know have been purged from my life for a reason. That basically applied to people here at my current base and people we know mutually. 

Apparently, that wasn't honored. 

Over the course of several months, thanks to my handy dandy visitor tracker....there are specific people who are coming to my site who still read up on my life, despite the fact that they made a valiant effort to completely burn me to the ground, then promptly tell me to fuck off & to "not bother" contacting them once they were sure that they tarnished my name. I find it ironic and somewhat amusing that they wrecked house like they did, then have the gall to come check my blog for ideas, pictures and recipes. Not only do they check my blog, they have gone to my Pinterest site as well and have followed my activities. What the fuck is that about? The damage they did to me was not warranted in any way, shape or form, so it shook my foundation to the core because they were people I considered to be life long friends. I was wrong. So very, very wrong. True faces were shown and yet another lesson to add to my life. My walls are back up and  once again, it's hard for me to be easy going and welcome new people into my life with open arms. 

So, there ya have it. That's why I've made my blog private.




Sunday, June 24, 2012

DW's in Polska

Alrighty, since it's been a little bit since I've done a blog with some "substance", I'm cramming tons and tons of pictures in this post for ya. Don't you feel special? Yes you do! It's been a week since the trip, so please bare with me if I happen to be all over the place...


Last year, I ended up renting a 9 seater van from Enterprise and named him BOB since it was a beast of a vehicle. Since it worked out very well for us, I went ahead and rented BOB 2.0 again for this trip due to the fact that we had a total of 6 gals going...which means LOTS of pottery would be coming home with us!


You know how it is when you're doing a long road trip..you end up buying some junk food along the way. Well, I came across kebab flavored chips (say what!?) when we rolled into Poland so I figured I'd take my chances and try it out. Honestly, they tasted like kebabs, lol...but the ladies in the van weren't fond of the smell because it reminded them of wet dog / cat food. Nice, right? hahaa. Oh well, at least I can say I tried 'em.


KFC in Poland? Looks legit..


After another hour of driving and taking a detour through Bolesławiec to do some shopping (WHAT! The stores were open for another two hours! Might as well take advantage of extra shopping time!) The drive outside of the town was gorgeous! The last two times I came to Poland, we stayed in the actual town which is pretty run down looking. This place, on the other hand, was out in the countryside away from all of that stuff...so we were surrounded by lush green hillsides and tons of meadows:






... we finally made it to our lovely destination which is the Palac Brunow. I learned my lesson after last years MISTAKE, so I took some recommendations some from friends who have stayed at this establishment before.


The grounds for the Palac Brunow were GORGEOUS! Very very pretty and was easy to get around. The main building is where you check in (they had their official Polish flags out), and it's also where their bar and restaurant was located. Plus, the "premium rooms" were in the main building.




The grand foyer where they had the dining area set up since the original dining room was being used for several conferences that were going on.


Towards the end of our stay, we were able to get into the actual dining room since the conferences were all done:


LOVED the staircase!

Once we got checked in and did our thing, I walked around to check out the other parts of the property since they had a grand hall where they had a party going on. If I was a really ballsy person, I would've just gone inside to check it out..but I didn't wanna be *THAT* American. So, I settled with just taking pics of it from the outside.

Quite possibly my most favorite picture of the place! I totally loved the shaded lounges they had near the fountain area so you could just hang out and get some sun.

And here's the building we stayed in:


Just kidding. The picture above was how this building looked before it was restored. HERE'S how it looks now! I was SO cute and perfect looking!


The foyer before you go upstairs to our rooms:


There was even a pool table for us to play around with. Thing is, we couldn't find any of the balls!


Finally made it up to my room to get settled in. LOVED it! TONS of space and I loved the older wood furniture! I checked out the other ladies rooms and they seemed to fit every ones style, which was really cool.


I even had a decent sized bathroom with a heated floor! The only thing that was really missing was a hairdryer (I didn't bring one since I was supposed to have a premium room which had one, but got bumped to a standard room due to over bookings).


Here's the view from my room :)

After we all unpacked then freshened up, we all met down stairs and enjoyed the weather while sitting out on the patio. Of course, we ordered some dinner. I ended up getting some perogies (sorry, no pic of that) and felt like I need a Mojito (or three) to unwind after the eight-ish hour drive. Tell ya what, those were some of the best Mojito's I've ever had!


Followed up my dinner with a pear strudel with vanilla cream. It was FABULOUS!


OK...little back story here: Ahem. While at dinner, one of the gals made a new friend. By friend, I mean a stray cat. This cat was a little charmer and knew how to work it's magic on her. So much so, that the gal ended up giving the cat a good chunk of her nice chicken dinner that she had ordered. By giving the cat the food, it sealed her fate. This cat was now our official floor cleaner and was her little shadow. As we're all going our separate ways for the night, I said "That cat better not follow up to our rooms" in a joking manner.

Ahhh....

So the next morning, I'm up early and I wanted to take some pictures of the staircase in our building since they had a shabby French sort of look to it. Keep in mind, I'm trying to focus the lens since the lighting wasn't cooperating...then I hear little thumps. Thumps like little feet running up stairs. I didn't notice anything right off the bat till I heard a little "mew". That lil booger was running up the stairs!


Of course I'm thinking "The girls are never gonna believe me that this fur ball came up the stairs for us". Luckily, I heard some of the girls bumping around in their rooms, so I knocked on their door to show 'em out little visitor. This cat was a total ham with striking poses and trying to look extra pitiful for attention!


Being good...caring friend that I am, I went up to the third flood where the gal who fed him was staying. Knocked on her door and reunited her and her little buddy. What are friends for? Apparently it was too early to deal with furballs, so the kitty got to enjoy the comfort of the hallway while I made a quick exit down to my floor to finish getting ready for the day.


After breakfast, we all loaded up and made our way into town to begin the official "Pottery crawl" to the various different stores along the main street.

Vegas in Poland? Seems legit to me.  Saw this place on our way into town..lol


 Some of the gals were amazed as to how run down some of the buildings looked...I wasn't kidding when I said this town looks like it never really recovered from past wars.


When we finally got to where we needed to be, of course, I hit up my ultimate favorite area that has four stores right around one another. One was where I was standing when I took this pic while the other three were directly across the street. Apparently this strip was also a favorite for the other ladies because I think we haunted it at least ten times through out the trip.

Annnnnd now you see why it's my favorite! This is where I manage to get 95% of my chile pepper pattern for super cheap compared to some of the other stores who carry a piece "here and there" and cost about 30% more. When it comes to pottery shopping, of course I want the most for my buck...errr...euro!


The ladies on our final run through with this shop:


I didn't buy this quirky lil guy, but he seemed to mimic how all the ladies looked whenever they walked into a new pottery store to see ALLLLLL the various things they could score.

MINE?!!?


My second favorite store! Henry's never seems to fail me when it comes to find bright colored goodies and a variety of random things for fairly reasonable prices.
If you're looking especially for teapots (with warmers), kitchen utensils / accessories, this is definitely the place to hit up!


The whole time I was planning this trip, I was REALLY looking forward to having lunch at Elric's! You wouldn't think anything of the place when you drive by because it's in a pretty shotty looking neighborhood....well.....I take that back. The whole city looks like that. Anyway, they're just around the corner from Henry's and I ranted & raved about this place.


I kept telling the ladies, "You can eat like a king at this place and it barely costs anything". The prices are EXTREMELY reasonable and the food is absolutely amazing. When we plopped down at a table on the patio, I noticed one of the paintings they had on the side of their building. It said "Food fit for a king"! Yeaaah!!


We unwinded for a little bit, which was pretty easy to do since there was a nice little water fountain running right next to us. Very soothing..


...so soothing in fact that one of the ladies nodded off while we were waiting for our lunches to come out :) As you can see, one of the gals was reaching to take her sunglasses off since she didn't believe that she was actually snoozing. She was!


Shortly after that, my "appetizer" showed up which was their delicious onion soup with garlic toast and a mocha milk shake. I know I know..the combination of flavors doesn't exactly sound appealing, but I promise, it was fabulous!


Then...the masterpiece. Spinach perogies! OH MY GAWD...I love these things to death! I'd eat these till I pop if I could. I definitely need to find some sort of recipe that's pretty similar to these since I don't I'll be going back to Poland any time soon. And to my relief, the other gals who happened to order them as well agreed that they were UH-mazing since I was ranting and raving about them the whole time we were driving there, lol


Once we were pretty burned out on shopping, we made our way back to the palace to unwind the only way we knew how......by drinking! I had several Bahama Mama's that bordered on Long Island's, a blue drink that tasted like coconut and happiness...Mojito's...and...blah blah blah...


We eventually got around to ordering actual FOOD (I barely remember ordering something solid) and enjoyed a fabulous dish of lamb topped with truffle sauce, fried mashed potatoes and asparagus. Honestly, it was AMAZING and I think my bill came to a total of....hmmm...18 euros. Lost of fancy drinks and a great dinner for a fantastic price..hells yea!


When we originally arrived at the Palac Brunow, this cow was just chillin' outside of the estate, soaking up the sun. I thought it was kinda funny because she didn't have a fence or anything to keep her in a certain area. I suppose she knew she had it made cause her owners would come out from time to time, brush her out, give her treats and returned back to their house so she could enjoy the simple life.

 The only time I saw her move around was when the farmer came out to mow the pasture, then she promptly reclaimed her spot once he was all finished. Hard life, right?
 

After all the shopping we did, multiple pillaging of stores repeatedly, here's how BOB 2.0 looked at the end of the trip:


There were a few boxes in the back seat as well, lol


And here's all the stuff I ended up with. YES! More chile pepper stuff!


Of course, here's the price break down since people tend to ask me how much some of the stuff cost. My pillaging wasn't as severe as my first trip, but I still ended up with some pieces I *know* I can't find on the internet once we move..nor am I willing to pay internet prices!

zÅ‚ = Zloty  :)

Chile Pepper spoon rest: 20.50zł = $6.10
Chile Pepper bowl plates (each): 44.30zł = $13.18
Chile Pepper dinner plates (each): 44.30zł = $13.18
Chile Pepper sipping ladle: 17.10zł = $5.08
Red flower shot glass: 10.10zł = $3.00
Butterfly trivet: 57.00zł = $16.96
Butterfly bell ornament: 24.10zł = $7.17
Chile Pepper cereal bowl: 37.40zł = $11.12
Butterfly bowl: 19.60zł = $5.83
Soccer ball cup: 30.00zł = $8.92
Butterfly pitcher: 111.20zł = $33.08
Chile Pepper soup cup (each): 33.70zł = $10.02
Chile Pepper soup tureen: 142.50zł = $42.40
Chile Pepper baking dish: 207.10zł = $61.62
Chile Pepper coffee pot: 73.20zł = $21.78
Chile Pepper warmer: 50.00zł = $14.87

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I couldn't help myself..I had to get a stool! It actually matches the teapot I bought last year. Not to mention, it's EXTREMELY sturdy and the wood matches the rest of our furniture.

Flower  wood stool: 124 zÅ‚ = $36.80


Chile Pepper pinch bowl (each): 9.20zł = $2.73


Chile Pepper design spoons (each): 13.90zł = $4.13


I LOVE tea! That's why I bought a teapot last time, but sometimes I want just a cup without having to make a whole batch of it. SO, I came across this really pretty combo cup!

Floral tea combo cup: 69.90zł = $20.79


It comes with a strainer for the tea packet and a lid so you can keep the heat contained. Love!


Random butterfly egg I *needed*

Butterfly egg: 38.50zł = $11.45


Aside from the goodies I picked up for myself, I also grabbed some goodies for some friends who also enjoy the quality of Polish pottery. I ended up snagging these goodies for Stefanie..


Cow print rolling pin: 35.00zł = $10.41
Cow print teapot: 78.00zł = $23.21
Cow print warmer: 32.00zł = $9.52
Butterfly bell ornament: 22.80zł = $6.78
Butterfly coffee mug: 30.80zł = $9.16


...and Shannon asked if I could find some bowls to finish out her dishware set in addition to some ornaments she can use as gifts for her kids teachers.


Tulip bowls (each): 69.29zł = $20.62
Tulip warmer: 55.20zł = $16.42
Poinsettia ornament: 21.00zł = $6.24
Butterfly ball ornament: 26.20zł = $7.79
Peacock bell ornament: 13.20zł = $3.92
Blue flower bell ornament: 17.80zł = $5.29
Red flower bell ornament: 16.50zł = $4.90

Once I was finished unpacking all the stuff, Cole was rather disappointed I didn't get him a spiffy Polish pottery dog bowl. When he realized there wasn't anything for him, he decided to look extra pitiful in one of the empty boxes..sorry darlin', no stuff for you. Not even perogies...


All in all...the third trip was definitely the charm! I have a fabulous time with the ladies, lots of laughs and wonderful memories! :D